IARN — The new incoming president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association is looking forward to the organization’s progress in 2022.
Kevin Rasmussen is a pig farmer in Humboldt County and succeeds Essex farmer Dennis Liljedahl as president of Iowa Pork. His family finishes 8,000 head of hogs per year and grows roughly 1,100 acres of corn and soybeans using conservation measures such as strip-till. Speaking with the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network at the 2022 Iowa Pork Congress in downtown Des Moines, Rasmussen said Iowa Pork had a very productive year in 2021.
Rasmussen talks about some of his top priorities this year as IPPA president.
“Continuing to get the state associations all to work together as one unit and help assign priorities to each entity so that we work together as a common cause,” said Rasmussen. “Another priority – and this comes from our producer survey – is foreign animal disease preparedness. The faster we can get back on track in the face of a foreign animal disease and get back to our exports, the better it’s going to be for the industry.”
Rasmussen says foreign animal disease was a major topic at the policy meetings held during the first day of this year’s Pork Congress.
“At the annual meeting we passed a resolution to fund SHIP, which is the Swine Health Improvement Project,” said Rasmussen. “SHIP involves many things. It makes sure you have Premises ID’s that are current with current information of pig owners, building owners and site owners. It makes sure you are keeping your movement records. All of that documentation goes to a system so that in the face of a foreign animal disease, our state veterinarian has access to all of that information so that we can locate, isolate and contain a foreign animal disease.”
The full interview with Kevin Rasmussen can be found at Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.
Pictured: Kevin Rasmussen, incoming president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association, at the 2022 Iowa Pork Congress. (Photo by Brent Barnett)
